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Archive:Maldiel Rigormaul
Lord Maldiel Rigormaul the Soulstalker, born Maldiel Dawning, is an undead blood elf death-knight and former agent of the Undead Scourge. Held prisoner twice by the Scourge during his lifetime, he was hand-picked by the Lich, Kal’neroth, to become a death knight after being captured during the Battle of Icecrown Glacier. History Early Life Born in the village of Suncrown, Maldiel had a simple, humble life in his earlier years. First son of Tasnath and Lirae, and first sibling and brother to Andeyn, and older brother to Somarin, Maldiel Dawning was named after his mother’s grandfather. He took on a variety of vocations in his earlier days, such as medicine, cookery, and smithing, but eventually found himself comfortable in the profession of couriering. For several years he journeyed the lands of Quel’Thalas making his runs alongside his silver hawkstrider Whiskey. However, when he returned from Silvermoon one evening after a delivery, he was horrified to see what had happened to his village... The War of Suncrown After a delivery one day, Maldiel returned to his home to see that it had been ransacked by the forest trolls from across the lake, in Zeb’Sora. It was this event that eventually spurred on the spirit of a warrior and a commander within Maldiel. What followed was a bloody, brutal war between the forest trolls of Zeb’Sora and the high elves of Suncrown Village which lasted for nearly seventy years. Ultimately, it was Maldiel’s insubordinate behaviour which brought the war to an end. Accompanied by his sister Andeyn and three of their cohorts, Maldiel stormed Zeb’Sora in the dead of night, and slew Sora’jin, the trolls’ warlord. Though his actions and those of his associates were disrespectful to their superiors, they ultimately ended an unrelenting war, and Maldiel soon set his sights on the Royal Military of Quel’Thalas... Into the Abyss Accepted into the service, Maldiel took to official military training, and befriended fellow recruit Galdros Fireson, a man with quite a flair for magic. Serving alongside his newfound comrade and his fellow high elves, Maldiel fought in the Second War as part of the Alliance, but come the time of the Third War, he was taken prisoner during the sacking of Silvermoon and was held prisoner by the Scourge. Surprisingly kept alive for well over a year, he was eventually freed as an elven caravan passed through the Scourge bastion where he was being kept. Nursed back to health by his fellow elves, he grew curious of their high elven appearance but a dramatically crimson colour scheme on their clothing and armour. Told by a young priestess that the elves had begun to call themselves blood elves, in honour of their slaughtered high elven brethren, Maldiel had taken a liking to the new moniker, and took it upon himself. Completely recuperated both mentally and physically after his time as a prisoner, he accompanied his fellow blood elves to Outland, where he would find allegiance with Illidan Stormrage, Lady Vashj and her naga, and eventually Stormrage’s demonic underlings. When the time came for Stormrage and his forces to attack Icecrown Glacier, Maldiel was assigned to an outpost, and to his surprise, was accompanied not only by his younger brother Somarin, but his old friend, Galdros Fireson, neither of whom he'd seen since his Scourge imprisonment. Though he was overjoyed to be accompanied by his brother and old friend, ultimately, that day would be the worst of Maldiel’s life. With the odds squarely against him and his squadron, Maldiel was beaten to within an inch of his life by Scourge subordinates, and forced to watch as they executed his brother, and the rest of the team. Galdros, however, was nowhere to be found. Moulding the Soulstalker Maldiel thought his time had come, but the Scourge had other plans for him. The visceral Lich, Kal’neroth, took Maldiel, and brutally tortured the blood elf day in and out for some time, until finally Maldiel learned to simply take the beating, even to revel in it. He had surpassed his life, and passed on into undeath. Given decisive training and a personal ceremony overseen by Kal’neroth, Maldiel was granted death knighthood, and dubbed Lord Maldiel Rigormaul, the Soulstalker. After a few years of faithful service to the Scourge, Maldiel found himself weakened by the one enemy his sword could not cut down; the Holy Light. Flanked by undead minions, Maldiel assaulted the Plaguelands township of Elden Hill, one of the few untouched human settlements in all of Northern Lordaeron. With his minions being felled as swiftly as they had risen, he found the source of his force’s destruction; a paladin by the name of Sagen, the Pureheart. Maldiel and Sagen battled through the town until the paladin ultimately led him to the town chapel. Maldiel beat the paladin to near death before the Light itself intervened. Weakened, Maldiel requested the paladin execute him himself, but he denied, and cast the death knight out from his once peaceful hometown. Strangely, Maldiel did as the holy knight requested. Maldiel drudged his way to the bottom of the hillside path and almost collapsed, as his Lich master appeared before him. Disappointed, the Lich threatened his pawn, but Maldiel had grew ill of the Lich's command. Remembering his blood elven days, he attempted something that would change him forever. Removing his glove, he reached out for his master, and drained the Lich dry of his magical essence, destroying Kal’neroth utterly. As he felt the power coursing through his undead form, he felt renewed and oddly, liberated, but, overwhelmed by the incredible surge of energy, he blacked out. Escape from the Crusade It wasn’t long before Maldiel was found by a passing group of human soldiers. Unfortunately for him, these weren’t rationally thinking, understanding humans. Rather, these were Scarlet Crusaders. By the time Maldiel awoke from the overpowering surge of energy, he’d realized they had taken him prisoner. An eerie voice in the darkness threatened him with torture, but before the source of the voice could even reach him, the room rapidly decreased in temperature. Within moments, Maldiel was able to shatter his bindings, and, after shoving the would-be torturer aside, escaped the icy room. Realizing he had been stripped of his armour and his weapon, he made it his mission to recover them from the facility where he was being kept. After managing to avoid detection, he collected all of his armaments and took the simplest way out, by slaughtering any who stood in his way. By the time he’d managed to escape the facility, he’d realized where he’d been kept the entire time - a monastery. Bemused, he made haste to leave, and so his journeys began. Now... Maldiel spent a great deal of time trying to figure his place in the world, and in some ways, he still is. Over the course of several months, Maldiel came across many new changes in his life. He managed to make acquaintance with a peaceful orcish shaman, by the name of Rhomdah Eonstorm, and through this orc, found his way into the relative security of allegiance to the Horde. However, Maldiel still feels out of place and searches for something more. In the same span of time, Maldiel somehow found himself hunted by a squadron of blood elven ‘death hunters’ lead by the irksome blood knight Balucian the Arbiter. Appearance Maldiel holds a somewhat muscular frame, though with muscles as dead as a rock, it is merely magic that is keeping them that way. He stands at a height that is considered roughly average for his kind, though he has lost a few inches due to the undeath. His face seems to echo resentment, and a facade of anger always seems to be upon his gaunt, stern, and sunken features. This, coupled with his icy blue complexion, often exhibits an aura of a disturbed, hostile individual. Wiry, dishevelled hair falls down around his visage and reaches about shoulder length. The dead locks seem to have a very pale shade, almost devoid of colour, but a powder blue hue is just barely visible. Hidden beneath his matted locks, adorning the back of his neck is a black tattoo, almost runic in design, it is not certain what the meaning of the mark is, or if Maldiel even knows of its existence. Maldiel tends to keep his frame covered most of the time, typically by hefty plate armour with leather and cloth underclothing, and usually a cowl keeps his head covered and his face obscured from view. A bastard sword accompanies him wherever he goes, the blade etched with odd runic symbols. The word ‘Insurrection’ appears to be inscribed upon the hilt. Armoury Most of Maldiel’s current arsenal was given to him upon his ceremonial death-knighthood. He is almost always seen wearing his ebon plate-mail armour. Dubbed the Soulstalker’s Deathplate, the armour was hand-crafted by Scourge blacksmiths and enchanted by acolytes to give him the best protection in the field. His runebladed longsword, Insurrection, was crafted by the finest of those Scourge blacksmiths. It seethes with arctic energy, and seems to echo the sounds of a bitter soul, long lost. To his dismay, Maldiel lost Insurrection when he was taken prisoner by the Scarlet Crusade. Through their slaughter at the Scarlet Enclave, one of the death knights of Acherus found the blade in the Crusaders' possession. Returning it to Acherus, Darion Mograine saw the blade’s craftsmanship as intently unique and honorific of the Scourge, and requested it be safeguarded. Sometime later, Maldiel met with the Ebon Blade, having heard of their freedom from the Lich King's dominion, similar to his own, and reclaimed his treasured runeblade. After being held captive by the Scarlet Crusade at their monastery, Maldiel recovered his deathplate but not Insurrection, which was nowhere to be found. To compensate, Maldiel stole a twin pair of swords, and dubbed them Blood and Gore. Since inscribing them with runes of his own design, he has grown quite fond of them, and keeps them on him along with Insurrection. Personality At one time, friends, family, and co-workers would have described Maldiel as a friendly, warm, and kind young man who simply wanted to do his nation proud. Of course, many of those people are likely deceased, or that is what Maldiel likes to believe. Cynicism is a large part of what makes up the man known as the Soulstalker. Having seen and served both sides of the fight against the Scourge for much of his life and undeath, he knows just what the world is up against, and though he wishes to see the armies of the Lich King extinguished, he has his doubts. Maldiel is a tactician, and prefers to rationally assess a situation and map out a plan rather than simply rushing blindly into open warfare against unspeakable odds. This behaviour was probably spurred on by his own suicidal naiveté displayed at Icecrown some years ago which started him down the road to death knighthood. He has been described as ‘relentless’, though this does not particularly pertain to his combat prowess. Maldiel has been known to have a ferocious temper than can be quite psychologically damaging to a weak-willed individual. Fortunately, he rarely displays such a rage. Relationships Though he is not quite the sociable person he once was, he has proven that he can maintain some manner of comradeship with some people. In recent times, Maldiel has openly called the orcish shaman Rhomdah Eonstorm his friend, and trusts him greatly. Not much is known of Maldiel's family. His parents and sister are believed to have perished in the razing of Quel'Thalas, while his brother, Somarin, was killed in action while serving alongside Maldiel. Foes At one time a friend of Maldiel, Galdros Fireson has since become the dreaded felblood elf warlock Galdros the Deathsayer. Though Maldiel does not quite know about Galdros’ current ties to the Burning Legion, he does hold a personal grudge against Galdros for his cowardice at the Icecrown Glacier several years ago. As a Lich is known to carry a phylactery to store its essence in the case that it needs to be resurrected, there is a very real chance that Maldiel’s former master Kal’neroth may return in future. Though not much of a nemesis, Maldiel is often constantly confronted by the blood knight Balucian the Arbiter, who seeks to imprison the death knight for his crimes against nature. And of course, those ‘crimes’ are as futile as Maldiel simply existing. Though Balucian sees Maldiel as a true threat, Maldiel sees Balucian as little more than comic relief, and finds their encounters to be quite amusing. Trivia *Maldiel’s defeat of Kal’neroth is a reference to the blood elves’ innate ability to ‘tap’ into a creature’s arcane energy. Of course, to overthrow a Lich, Maldiel had to almost bleed himself dry of magical energy to do so. *Maldiel is partial to scones. *He finds vampiric and cannibalistic creatures highly disturbing. *His surname in life was originally Lightsong, this has since been retconned. *All of his mounts have been named after alcoholic beverages, though he has never drank. In life, he had a silver-feathered Hawkstrider named Whiskey, and in undeath he rides the ebon deathcharger Vermouth. Category:Archived Characters Category:Archived